All Fired Up
by Major Trouble
Summary: A burnt body is found in a Marine's home at Quantico with only a single fingerprint as forensic evidence. How did this Jane Doe die? Why? And is she even a Marine? And how does the murderer know Abby? Slight McAbby.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters mentioned apart from Ian McLain and the dead body. I have no affiliation with NCIS or Donald Bellisario. No copyright infringement intended.**

McGee grinned widely as DiNozzo sat down at his desk, pretending to be interested in something he had up on the computer screen in front of him. DiNozzo pulled up his email, and, curiosity getting the better of him, opened a new message from McGee first. The message was mostly boring, plain old everyday work information. However, the last line said 'Oh, and Sarah wants to talk to you.'

"Your sister finally discovered her feelings for me, Probie?" DiNozzo asked.

McGee shrugged, his smile now contained. Leaning back in his desk chair, he grabbed _Deep Six_ off the shelf behind him. "She just said to give you her email."

DiNozzo clicked the address excitedly. As soon as he did, however, his computer screen went blue. There was a message in white lettering there, with McGee's own personal touch.

Bet you wish you knew your way around a computer now, huh Tony?

~Very Special Agent Timothy McGee

DiNozzo glared at his coworker. "Oh, so you think that's funny, do you?" he asked. McGee pretended to have no idea what he was talking about."I have no idea what you're talking about," Tim said innocently.

"Fix his computer, McGee, he's gonna need it," Gibbs said, walking into the Squad Room. He reached over his chair and opened his desk drawer, pulling out his Sig Sauer. The other two stood up and grabbed their gear.

"Where to Boss?" DiNozzo asked.

"Quantico. Dead body."

"Body?" McGee asked, following Gibbs to the elevator. DiNozzo trailed steps behind him. "Not a Marine?"

"Dead body on a Marine base in a Marine's garage, found by…"

"A Marine," DiNozzo completed.

The body was burnt badly, beyond recognition. The teeth had been completely destroyed, maybe punched out, and, according to Ducky, there probably wasn't enough tissue for a DNA match.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said, slapping his agent on the back of the head. DiNozzo stopped staring at the hot girl watching the team from the sidewalk and turned to his superior. "Yeah Boss?"

"Interview the witness."

DiNozzo adjusted his hat, looking around. Clearly, he wasn't sure who the witness was. Gibbs turned his Senior Field Agent back towards the hot girl. Tony smiled. "My pleasure, Boss."

It was McGee who found the glasses. He snapped a few pictures of them, resting a few feet from the body, then picked them up in latex- covered hands. "Boss, I think I found something," he called. Gibbs walked over and took the glasses out of McGee's hands. Black frames with clear red plastic on the ends, and rectangularish lenses. Carefully, Gibbs held them up to his face so he could look through them. "Nearsighted. Bag 'em Mc-"

"Something wrong, Boss?" McGee asked. Gibbs was looking more closely at the glasses, eyes squinted slightly.

"The body was burned beyond recognition," Gibbs said thoughtfully. "No DNA, no fingerprints. The teeth are shattered, so a dental match is impossible. So why leave the victim's glasses?" They couldn't be the killer's- they would have needed to be able to see to leave.

McGee thought about it. "Maybe they didn't notice."

"Be that careful to hide their identity, then leave a pair of glasses with a perfectly clear finger print on it?" Gibbs put the glasses in the bag. "Tag them."

"What'd you bring me, McGee?" Abby asked as the aforementioned Special Agent walked in, carrying a white evidence box. He slid it onto the shiny clean table.

"Not much, unfortunately," Tim answered. "A pair of glasses with one print, a hammer, and some other possible weapons." Tim walked back out of the room without another word. Abby's face fell, as she wondered why he was leaving so quickly, and without a good bye or an 'I need to get back to work.' Just then, however, he came back, holding a long package in his hands, wrapped in trash bags. "What, is it my birthday, or something?" Abby asked jokingly.

The team hadn't know how to bag the hockey stick McGee had found in the garage- it was obviously too big for the typical evidence bag. Eventually, they took two trash bags and put one on each end, then taped it around the middle. Then Gibbs had taped an evidence bag to it for the log. "It's a hockey stick," McGee explained, laying it on the table and pushing the other things Abby had already unpacked closer to her. He gestured to the things on the table as he continued. "Nothing is bloody. The body was in the middle of the garage, with scorch marks around it, but nothing else seemed to be touched. It was weird."

Abby pulled the glasses out of the evidence bag and held them up to the light. "One perfectly clear, pristine print. The only thing ruining these other flawlessly clean glasses."

"Gibbs wants you to run the print through AFIS right away, so we can ID the victim."

Abby nodded and blocked McGee out without thinking about it. McGee was glad to see that Abby seemed to have recovered some from Ziva's absence. She had been withdrawn and upset since Tony, Gibbs, and Vance had returned without the Mossad agent. It felt weird not having a woman on the team for once. McGee had had Kate, then, for a week, Paula Cassidy, and then Ziva. But now, it was just McGee, Gibbs, and an often- bitter Tony.

After excusing himself, McGee went up to the Squad Room. The team had nothing to go on until Ducky or Abby found something. The witness had only said that she had seen the body through the garage window when she ran by, trying to catch her runaway dog. No one else saw or heard anything until NCIS had shown up, and the owner of the house was a Lance Corporal Ian McLain, who was visiting his grandparents in New Hampshire. DiNozzo and McGee confirmed his location- DiNozzo called, McGee traced- and then, and then they had nothing to do. Until Gibbs walked into the Squad Room.


	2. Chapter 2

Before going to see Abby, Gibbs told McGee and DiNozzo to complete a list of people Lance Corporal McLain had come in contact with in the last four months. It was a ridiculous request, as McGee was quick to point out.

"But Boss-" McGee started, standing up slightly. Gibbs spun on his heel and stared at his agent, who sat down again promptly and began typing quickly. Once Gibbs was in the elevator, Tim looked at DiNozzo. For several seconds they simply stared, then McGee broke the silence. "Is he crazy? Or just trying to make himself feel like we have something to go on?"

"Gibbs? Crazy? No. Making himself _think_ we have something to go on? No. He's actually trying to _make_ us something to go on."

"Whatcha got Abs?" Gibbs asked, striding silently into the Forensics Lab, Caf Pow in hand.

"A match from AFIS on that fingerprint," Abby replied, spinning away from her computer to face Gibbs. She tried to grab the Caf Pow from Gibbs' hand, but he held it out of her reach. "Not until I have my results."

"Fine," Abby sighed. "But you aren't going to like this. The fingerprint you found on the glasses found by McGee belongs to a Special Agent Mackenzie Hagen."

"Special Agent? With what agency?"

"Ours," Abby said, pulling up a picture of Mackenzie Hagen on the computer. Gibbs looked over her shoulder at a girl with short, dirty blond hair, pale skin, freckles, and green eyes. "She was twenty-six, and she's been missing for three months, Gibbs."

"I take it she didn't work here. What office?"

"Special Agent Hagen worked in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She lived with her parents in Salem, with a sister Kait and dog Matilda. Her sister Jennifer lives in Massachusetts."

"She isn't wearing glasses," Gibbs observed.

"Contacts?" Abby suggested. "A lot of people prefer contacts to glasses. Not to mention she played sports, so contacts would be much easier."

"I don't like contacts."

Abby smiled. "You don't like glasses, either, Gibbs. Anyway, I found this picture…" She pulled up another photo, then handed Gibbs the bag with the glasses. "These are those." Abby pointed from the glasses to the picture, where Mackenzie was wearing the very same ones.

Gibbs nodded, then turned to the table of evidence. "Anything from this junk?"

"McLain's prints are all over the hammer, screwdriver, and drill," Abby reported. "Fewer on the toolbox itself, but that's brand new- the receipt is still in the bottom. But there weren't any prints on the hockey stick. At all."

Gibbs had left the room at the word 'hockey,' leaving the Caf Pow on the table. Abby shrugged and drank.

"The hockey stick was clean," Gibbs announced, walking to his desk. "The victim is NCIS Special Agent Mackenzie Hagen, from Salem, New Hampshire. Worked in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Get on it."

McGee started typing furiously. When Gibbs had left again, he looked up at DiNozzo. "Get on what, exactly?"

"It, Probie. Don't you understand Gibbs? You've worked for him long enough."

"Right..." McGee found Hagen's biography quickly. In moments, he had scanned through Ian McLain's bio as well. They had New Hampshire, the Marines, and a passion for hockey in common, as well as being born only a few months apart. Perhaps most importantly, Hagen's house was just across town from McLain's grandparents, where McLain had lived as a young boy. Before Gibbs had learned anything that didn't regard a Scottish fishing expedition from Ducky, McGee had also found several calls that both had placed to the same house at Quantico. McGee pulled up another file.

"Tony."

"What, Probie?" Tony asked angrily, looking up from his computer, which McGee had yet to fix. DiNozzo had been reduced to slapping the keyboard, monitor, and the computer itself. McGee walked over and hit Alt-F4. The blue screen with McGee's message disappeared, replaced by DiNozzo's email. Smirking, McGee grabbed the clicker off his desk, pulling a picture up onto the plasma. "This women, our witness. Private First Class Jacqueline Lessels, or, as she told you, 'Jackie.' Lance Corporal McLain and Special Agent Hagen both called her several times in the last month. Only common number between them. They never had direct contact with each other, at least not over the phone. I need Hagen's computer."

"What about McLain's?" Tony asked, moving to stand behind McGee.

"We didn't take it. I'm not even sure if he has one- I never left the garage, remember?"

"Well good news for your Probie, Hagen's computer is on its way here right now. I'm having her parents send it down. They're sending their fingerprints too, for reference."

"Abby won't like that," McGee commented. "Amateur fingerprints that could be intentionally blotched to hide involvement in a crime? Gibbs won't like it either."

Tony's next words were heavy with angry sarcasm. He wasn't as hard to live with now as he had been a month ago when Ziva first left, but he hadn't gotten over it, either. "Well then, McProbie, drive up to New Hampshire and do it _professionally_. Salem is on the Mass border, it would only take you eight hours or so to get there, then another eight to get back."

McGee looked at him. "Tony. Please. Stop taking your anger out on me, okay?" DiNozzo didn't respond, turning to his computer and sitting down heavily.

"Duck," Gibbs cut in. He didn't have time for this fishing story. "Special Agent Hagen?"

Ducky looked up, confused. "Special Agent-"

"Mackenzie Hagen. NCIS Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Abby matched the print on the glasses left by the body."

"Ah." Ducky moved to show Gibbs a hole in the agent's chest. "This strange whole in the chest I have yet to figure out. Whatever made it did not touch anything vital, but would have caused an almost unbearable amount of pain. No, the fatal wound was here." Ducky pointed to the head. "Blunt force trauma. I don't know, however, what caused it. I've-"

"A hockey stick."

"A hockey stick?" Ducky asked. "Well, yes, I suppose that could have made this wound. But who would use a hockey stick as a murder weapon?"

"That's what I'm going to find out. Thanks Duck," Gibbs said, walking towards the doors. They _woosh_ed open before he got there, and Jimmy walked in, almost colliding with Gibbs. "I- I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs, I didn't mean to-"

Gibbs walked around Jimmy. "Watch where you walk, Palmer," he advised.


	3. Chapter 3

"McGee."

"Special Agent Hagen and Lance Corporal McLain." McGee stood as he spoke, putting their pictures up on the plasma between his and DiNozzo's desk. DiNozzo himself lounged comfortably at his desk as McGee reported his findings. "Both born and raised in Salem, New Hampshire, though on opposite sides of town. That means different elementary schools, but they could have met-"

"Could have, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Uh, well, I haven't figured that out yet-"

"Go on, McGee."

"Right. Both played hockey as kids, and they even played on the same New Hampshire Avalanche hockey team for three years." Next, McGee pulled up two pictures, each of an ice hockey goalie in a bright yellow jersey with blue and white trim- a girl and a boy. "Both played goalie."

"Well yeah, McGee, I can see that. Which was better? Possible rivalry?"

"I was about to find and call their old coach when you showed up," McGee said. Gibbs only looked at him. "I'll do that now."

DiNozzo snatched the clicker out of McGee's hand as the Probie sat down, earning him a glancing blow on the forearm and a 'you could have asked.' DiNozzo ignored Tim and continued reporting their findings. "McLain was born on March twenty-seventh in Manchester." DiNozzo showed Gibbs several pictures, including a map of Manchester in relation to Salem and a baby picture of each person. "Hagen was born on June first of the same year, in the same hospital.

"They both joined the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC-"

"I know what ROTC is DiNozzo."

"I know Boss, but I just felt like saying it-"

That earned Tony a Gibbs-slap. He continued. "According to their teacher, the two were practically inseparable, but not dating. They still played hockey and preferred the Marines to the Air Force, but that's what the school offered.

"Hagen was impatient and didn't like to follow protocol, but a nice kid. Smart, too. In addition to ROTC and hockey, she played softball and was involved in the Key Club at her school. She especially liked the Make-A-Wish dinner held every year." DiNozzo pulled up a picture of Mackenzie Hagen and a small Wish Child that had been taken her senior year of high school.

"Then there's Lance Corporal Ian McLain. He was the perfect Cadet, according to the Chief- patient, polite, and a stickler for rules. He, too, was smart- very smart. Salutatorian. He wasn't in any after- school clubs, but he was on the rifle team. His girlfriend was in the color guard." The next picture was of Ian McLain in the middle of a competition, slamming his fake rifle onto the floor of a gym.

Gibbs grabbed his coffee off his desk. "McGee, you find their coach yet?"

"Just did Boss. I was just about to-"

"Leave it. Call him tomorrow in the car. Pack your bags; we're leaving for the Granite State at 0700."

DiNozzo picked up his phone and watched Gibbs' back as he dialed as the elder left. "I'm calling Hagen's parents. No point having them send the laptop if our computer forensics expert will be in New Hampshire."

"And if they're already sent it?" McGee questioned.

"You've got friends in the Cybercrime Unit, right?"

"McGee!" Abby exclaimed, catching his arm as he was about to step into the elevator half an hour later. "Where's Gibbs? I just sprinted up the stairs to get him, but no one was there- you, Tony, Zi-" The name caught in Abby's throat. She hadn't thought about it, she was just too used to having Ziva around. McGee wrapped her up in a hug as Abby started to shake a little. "I miss her, Tim."

"I miss her too," McGee whispered, turning himself and Abby so that they no longer blocked the elevator. They stood like that for several minutes, though the building was far from empty. Finally, Abby managed to pull herself together. Her eyes and nose were slightly red, and McGee wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Abby smiled somewhat, then pulled out her cell and began talking quickly to McGee whilst playing with the phone.

"I was wrong. Well, not really. There weren't any fingerprints on the hockey stick. But I looked at a bunch of hockey pictures and saw that most people only tape two places- the blade and the top of the stick, where they hold it. But the hockey stick you found have a small strip of tape wrapped around it a few times, just above the blade. It could have been a personal ritual, or it could have been to hide something." Abby looked at McGee with a massive grin, urging him to guess.

"Blood?"

"Yes! I took off the tape, and there was a little bit of blood soaked into the wood. Not much, but enough. So I tested it."

"Was it Special Agent Hagen's?" McGee inquired. There was a ding and the elevator doors slid open. McGee, watching Abby talk, couldn't even remember getting into the elevator, but now he was getting out of it and walking into Labby.

Abby pulled on some latex gloves, pushed the box towards McGee, afterward picking up the hockey stick. She showed McGee where the blood was and the strip of tape that had covered it. There were some splinters of wood stuck to it, but nothing else out of the ordinary.

"I don't have a match on the blood yet, but it isn't Hagen's or McLain's."

"Hockey is a violent sport," McGee pointed out. "Maybe someone was hurt during a game."

"It was fresh, McGee. Someone other than Hagen was hurt that day."

"Nice work Abs," Gibbs praised. Startled, McGee looked around. The voice sounded artificial, and it took him a moment to notice that Abby's cell was out. Set on speakerphone, Gibbs had heard it all. McGee was suddenly glad he hadn't said much.

"Thank you, Gibbs," Abby replied. He was about to hang up when Abby noticed something else. "Gibbs? Don't hang up."

Carefully, Abby and McGee took a tiny piece of paper from the stick. All four faces were completely intact, but the edges were splintering, hence the wood on the tape. Between the painted wood and the core of the stick was a gap where someone had hidden a note. Abby shared this information with Gibbs while McGee read it.

"Gibbs," McGee said, cutting Abby off. "You should get back here."

He handed Abby the note. It was typed in a small, almost unreadable font.

Hello, Abigail Sciuto.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs was back at NCIS and on his way to Abby's lab literally ten minutes after hanging up the phone. McGee and Abby sat under the windows; Abby huddled against McGee's side, McGee's weapon draw and trained on the door, just in case. The lights were all out, and rained pattered lightly on the bullet-resistant glass above their heads. The elevator dinged, and the two heard rapid footsteps. In the dim light, McGee could just make out Gibbs' face, his weapon also drawn. "It's me," he said quietly, and it wasn't until he said it and they recognized his voice that McGee and Abby relaxed a bit.

"Corner to your left, Boss," McGee responded, watching his superior and mentor crouch and head towards them, low to the floor. He sat on Abby's other side, back against the wall, and wrapped an arm around Abby's shoulders. McGee holstered his gun and slid his arm around Abby's waist, scooting closer. "It's an Abby sandwich," McGee said, trying to lighten the mood. Abby smiled very slightly, Gibbs just looked at him. McGee half-shrugged back, and Gibbs nodded twice.

"McGee? You mind telling me why I'm here?"

"There was a note _inside_ the hockey stick, or at least, between two pieces of it. It was tiny, so it would fit without being obvious, and typed. The font was tiny, too- almost unreadable. I'd guess a size four or five font."

"The point, McGee?" Gibbs urged. "You've told me what it looks like, but that doesn't sound like a very good reason to make me come back."

"It had a message on it-"

"Well yeah, McGee, if there was a note, then of course it had a message on it."

"Boss, it was short sweet and to the point. Someone connected to this crime knows Abby. The paper said 'Hello Abigail Sciuto,' Boss."

Gibbs didn't seem to be expecting that. He was silent for a few moments, then asked "Where's the note?"

"On the edge of the table closer to the mass spectrometer," Abby said. "That's where McGee was. After I read it I dropped it on the table and he dusted it for prints. Nothing. Then he drew his gun and brought me over here."

Gibbs nodded to McGee, as in 'good job.' Then, noticing that Abby was still wearing her latex gloves, he asked her to give them to him so he could grab the note. Once he had pulled her gloves on, Gibbs was ready to leave the lab.

"Let's get you up to the squad room, Abs." He shifted his arm to under hers and lifted her to her feet easily, keeping her low at the same time. McGee clambered to his feet as well, then ducked down again. "Crouch down as low as you can," Gibbs advised, leading the way. "Just in case." There was no reason to believe that they were going to be attacked right then, right at that very moment, as there had been when Ari had shot into Abby's lab, but there was no harm in playing it safe, so that's what Gibbs intended to do. He made sure Abby was following him and signaled McGee to draw his gun. Again, just playing it safe. On his way past the table, Gibbs snatched up the note, then dropped to the floor again quickly before continuing on. McGee was in the most danger, if only because he was more likely to trip on a lose wire or even just the floor. He moved carefully backwards out of the room, watching the windows. He couldn't see anything through the light rain, but that didn't really mean anything. A sniper would be much farther away, after all.

Once in the hallway, all three stood up. McGee put his arm around Abby's waist again, and Gibbs rested his hand on the small of her back, just above McGee's arm. They rode the elevator up to the squad room, where Tony was waiting for them. McGee had called him, too, explaining as quickly as possible what was going on while sitting against the wall with Abby. When he saw the three come out of the elevator, he called "Does this mean we aren't going to New Hampshire tomorrow?" Gibbs squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to decide if his agent needed slapping. Abby's escorts led her to Gibbs' desk and sat her down in his chair. Gibbs grabbed a spare one from the desk on the end, McGee rolled his over, and Tony spun his chair towards them. "Campfire!"

"We need to figure out who killed Special Agent Hagen quickly. Whoever killed her almost definitely left the note. McGee, bring up a picture of our witness again." McGee rolled himself back to his desk, grabbed the clicker, and rolled back, pulling her picture onto the plasma. "Boss, we should get those screens-"

"Like the Office of Special Projects has. I know McGee."

Tony looked at him, confused. McGee started to explain the epic touch screens- Abby looked jealous that she hadn't gotten to play with them- but was cut off by a slap from Gibbs, who was staring intently at the women on the screen. "I know her. How do I know her?" He turned to his team, but they were clueless. "DiNozzo, get Ducky."

By the time Tony was back with Doctor Mallard, Gibbs had gotten nowhere. Ducky stopped when he saw the picture on the screen. "Not this cold case. Please, not this one."

It hit Gibbs then. "Pacci! It was Pacci's case with the child molester. She was the mother of one of the children." It all started to come together then. Jacqueline Lessels knew Abby from that case and was at the crime scene. That made her the top suspect. But that wasn't enough for a conviction in court. They still needed to prove it was her. That would be the hard part.

"Let's get to work."


	5. Chapter 5

"Boss," McGee started. "Are we still going to New Hampshire? Tony called Hagen's parents- they're expecting us tomorrow."

Gibbs turned on DiNozzo angrily. "You did _what_? The point is to catch them off guard, not to give them time to get rid of any incriminating evidence!"

"I was calling to tell them we'd be there so that they didn't send Hagen's laptop here. You know, since we'd be there anyway."

Gibbs restrained from slapping him on the back of the head for once- he had more important things to worry about, after all. "McGee, you're on protection duty with Abby. DiNozzo, you're going to New Hampshire. And call them back- McGee's gonna need that laptop."

"Alone, Boss?"

"No, you're taking McGee's dog! Yes alone!"

"Can I really take his dog?"

That did earn him a slap on the head- from McGee. "Jethro is staying in my apartment, thank you very much." DiNozzo slapped him back, and Gibbs slapped him. It was a regular slapfest.

"DiNozzo, get going. It's an eight hour drive."

DiNozzo mumbled something unintelligible and headed for the garage to get the sedan. Abby rolled Gibbs' chair over to McGee's desk and sat next to him while he worked, and Gibbs and Ducky headed down to autopsy to discuss this new turn of events.

"Jacqueline Lessels. Were you here for that case?" McGee asked Abby. There was a chance that she had done a computer sketch or something for the case, in which case she would have met Lessels.

"Yeah, I was. I don't really remember it all that well. I found drugs on Lessels' son's clothes, then the drug dogs found some drugs… somewhere… and we got the guy, but a few kids had already died." Abby laughed. Not at the fact that kids had been molested and murdered, but her details. "So yeah, I don't really remember it."

"So it's possible that she was mad at you for not finding something sooner, and wants to get revenge?" McGee asked.

"Well, yeah, but McGee, the message wasn't even threatening. It was creepy, but it only said 'hello Abigail Sciuto.' You can calm down a little."

McGee sighed. "You realize that this means someone set you up, right? Or… or that you've been under surveillance. And… oh god… someone may have broken into your lab, Abby. I didn't think of that earlier. Shit, I gotta call Gibbs." Abby rolled back over to Gibbs' desk. She was spooked, but trying to hide it by acting like the whole thing was no big deal. Which it was. Someone broke into her lab? The possibility was not something Abby wanted to think about.

Gibbs walked into the squad room and Abby pointed out that it was nearing seven forty-five and they'd never had dinner. Half an hour later, aware that it was 'National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month' (according to Abby), he brought her a fresh salad, himself a hamburger, and another for McGee, which Probie just managed to catch, caught by surprise when his superior threw it at him. "Thanks Boss." Gibbs only nodded, his mouth full of burger. Abby now announced that the next day was 'Garfield the cat' day, and demanded that Gibbs and McGee wear Garfield shirts.

"No way, Abby," McGee said. "I don't even _own_ a Garfield shirt! Besides, Jethro would probably claw it to pieces when he saw the cat. And if it was on me, _I'd_ be clawed to pieces."

"Aw, come on Timmy!" Abby whined, sliding back over to him throwing her arms around his shoulders. Gibbs rolled his eyes, rule number twelve fresh in his mind. He decided to let it go for now, however, as he didn't know if they were actually dating- and what's wrong with harmless flirting?- and even if he knew they were, well, he wasn't sure he'd do anything to stop them then, either, at least not at this particular moment in time. Abby was more daughter than coworker to him, and he wanted her to be happy. McGee was a son in some ways, but thinking like that was making Gibbs think about Shannon and Kelly, so he stopped himself and concentrated on his burger.

"Abby, I have to work," McGee reminded her, laughing. He was trying to eat his burger at the same time. Overall, it wasn't working out so well. Gibbs decided to intervene.

"Abby, come here a moment." Abby reluctantly let go of McGee and glided over to Gibbs' desk, catching it to control herself. Absentmindedly, she starting humming a Numeriklab song until Gibbs caught her attention again, with a random conversation about life. Meanwhile, McGee was desperately trying to find something they didn't already know. He didn't find anything, though, for quite some time, and when he finally did, it was because he was sent an email. An email from Mr. Hagen, in fact, with the domain and username for his daughter. He admitted that he didn't know her password, but she had a file with all her passwords that he swore he never read, and he sent that too, eager to help NCIS whenever possible. "Boss, I just got an email from Special Agent Hagen's father with her email address and a Word document with her passwords."

Gibbs looked up. "Good. Use them."

McGee nodded and within seconds was in Mackenzie Hagen's outbox. "Boss, according to this, someone sent an email out from this address yesterday. In fact, regularly. And there are no unread messages, but some are recent. Mackenzie Hagen has been missing for three months."

Gibbs' head shot up at this. With timing as good as Gibbs' usually is, Ducky walked in. "I was wrong. Abigail, I have a tissue sample for DNA testing, to confirm that the body is or is not Mackenzie Hagen."


	6. Chapter 6

"Gibbs, we have a problem," Abby said as the Special Agent walked into her lab with a Caf-Pow. McGee had left moments before to go back to work, even though he wasn't supposed to leave Abby's side. "Actually, we have two problems."

"And they are?"

"Well do you want the more important one or the one related to the case first?"

Gibbs wasn't sure he wanted to know what Abby's definition of 'important' was. He signed 'I don't want to know, do I?' and Abby replied 'your Gibbssense is off.' When all she received in reply was a funny look, Abby elaborated out loud. "I got this result several minutes ago, Gibbs! Normally when I find something you're right there! You always show up immediately, like magic. And I know you didn't bug my lab- I checked. But I've been waiting for you for almost ten minutes now and-"

"Abby. The results?"

"That body down in autopsy isn't Special Agent Mackenzie Hagen," Abby reported.

"So who is it?" Gibbs demanded.

"Gibbs, that body is Private First Class Jacqueline Lessels, unless it's another one of those weird donor-organ mix-ups again."

"McGee, pull up PFC Lessels' file again," Gibbs ordered, coming out of the elevator. He had left a new agent with Abby, as he needed McGee right now.

McGee did so without questioning, then moved over to stand next to his boss, looking at the plasma over his desk. "What're we looking for?"

Gibbs was silent for a few moments before he spotted it. "That. Read that," he responded, pointing at the screen. McGee read it as requested, then studied the picture more closely. "Damn it," Gibbs continued, doing the same thing. "That" –he pointed to the picture– "is the women involved in Pacci's case." McGee pulled up a picture of the witness take at the crime scene. The lady was ever so slightly different. This woman had freckles- very light, almost unnoticeable- that the women in the service picture did not have. Her hair seemed to be slightly darker, and her skin lighter. All of these details were barely noticeable. If they hadn't read the file, they would never have noticed.

"More twins," McGee said. "Jacqueline Lessels is dead. Jennifer was our witness. But if Jackie is dead and Jen is our witness, then who's after Abby?"

"I have no idea, McGee, but we're going to find out."

The phone rang just then. Gibbs listened for a moment, then turned to McGee as he hung up, but not before saying 'thanks Abs.' "The blood on the hockey stick was Jackie Lessels'."

Before Gibbs could say anything else, McGee decided he needed to bring it up. It didn't seem like Gibbs had noticed. "If Jennifer Lessels was at the crime scene, why did she tell Tony her name was Jacqueline?" McGee could tell from the look on his superior's face that he was right- the thought hadn't crossed his mind, at least not yet.

"She's our murderer," Gibbs announced. He could feel it in his gut. "She murdered her sister, then set up Mackenzie Hagen as the dead body and had us finding connections between two people who have nothing to do with this case- Special Agent Hagen and Lance Corporal McLain. Call Tony, tell him to get back here, then call the Hagens and tell them their daughter may still be alive, and we don't need to talk to them anymore."

McGee grabbed his cell phone and dialed Tony's number as he walked down to Abby's lab. He hung up from his call with Hagen's father as he entered ballistics, where Abby was sitting on the floor, reading _Deep Six_. She looked up when McGee entered. "Why aren't you at your desk?" he asked, helping her to her feet. She shrugged and laid the book on her desk, then continued to the outer lab.

"And to what do I owe this visit from my favorite Special Agent? Well, I guess you're tied for my favorite, you know, with Gibbs and his silver hair-"

The agent that Gibbs had assigned to watch out for Abby gave her a weird look, which both the others ignored.

"Abby, Jackie Lessels has- had- a twin sister named Jen. Jen was the one at the crime scene, not Jackie, and her sister is the dead body. Gibbs thinks she's our murderer, but has no way to prove it."

"I may have gotten him just that, McGee," Abby announced, holding up a roll of hockey tape. "After you bagged the stick, Gibbs bagged this tape. There were multiple prints on this, and on the sticky side of the strip around the blood. They belonged to Jennifer Lessels, but the tape on the blade and the grip at the top of the stick had Lance Corporal McLain's prints on the sticky side. She killed her sister, burnt the body, put tape over the blood she couldn't clean off, wiped it clean, and put Special Agent Hagen's glasses at the crime scene. She probably has Hagen, too."

McGee smiled widely, kissed Abby on the cheek, and ran from the room. "Good work Abby!" he hollered over his shoulder, taking the stairs three at a time instead of waiting for the elevator. He nearly ran into Gibbs on his way back to his desk and quickly filled his superior in. What they had on Jennifer Lessels was enough to bring her in for questioning, and Gibbs was convinced he could get a confession out of her. Then, however, there was the missing Special Agent Mackenzie Hagen. After all that had happened with this case, Gibbs felt he needed to find out what happened to her, one way or the other. She was an NCIS Special Agent, after all.


	7. Chapter 7

DiNozzo returned at one in the morning, stumbling tiredly into the squad room. McGee was sound asleep on the floor behind his desk, Abby in his arms. Gibbs was sleeping in his desk chair, and an agent that Tony had never seen before was at Ziva's desk, also sound asleep. DiNozzo stifled a yawn and lay sat in his desk chair, using his NCIS Federal Agent jacket as a blanket. Within moments, he was fast asleep.

McGee woke up hearing footsteps walk past his head, but his eyes remained tightly shut for several moments. He didn't even realize he was holding someone in his arms until a second pair of footsteps went by. He struggled to remember what had happened before he fell asleep, but couldn't. He was stiff and uncomfortable from a night on the floor- didn't he usually sleep in his chair? But- oh, right- he was holding someone. Abby! That's why he wasn't in his chair. Finally, McGee blinked, opening his eyes. Sure enough, Abby's black hair was tickling his face. Sleepily, McGee sat up, careful not to disturb Abby as he did so, then got to his knees, and finally to his feet. It seemed he was the only one who was awake. Gibbs was still sound asleep at his desk- or at least, he appeared to be- Abby hadn't moved, DiNozzo was asleep in his chair- Tim guessed he'd gotten back late that night- and Special Agent Kelan O'Leary's blond mop of hair rested on his folded arms on Ziva's desk. He seemed a capable guy, but a little intimidated by Gibbs- no big surprise. However, it was surprising that he seemed to feel the same way about McGee, though perhaps because he was a more experienced field agent than Kelan himself.

Yawning, McGee knew he needed to get some breakfast and change, but since he didn't want to get only himself breakfast and not the others, he decided he'd change first.

By the time Tim returned- wearing an MIT tee shirt and jeans since it was Sunday and the dress code wasn't so strict- Abby, Gibbs, and Kelan had woken up, but DiNozzo was still asleep. Abby was still on the floor, rubbing sleep from his eyes. She would probably take some of his spare clothes and change into those instead of wearing her own clothes she kept down in the lab. Gibbs was just grabbing clothes out of the cabinet next to DiNozzo, and Kelan was just sitting at Ziva's desk, trying not to look too tired. After Gibbs had left to go change, McGee walked over to the younger agent. "Timothy McGee," he said, holding out his hand. He hadn't introduced himself the previous day.

"Kelan O'Leary," Kelan replied, shaking his hand. McGee nodded- Gibbs had told him the man's name the night before, after McGee had returned from Abby's lab.

"That's Anthony DiNozzo," McGee added, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Tony. "Watch out for him- he likes to make fun of people. A lot."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kelan said, standing up. "Agent Gibbs debriefed me on the case last night, after you and Abby fell asleep. He said that you and I are to go pick up Jennifer Lessels and bring her back her for questioning."

McGee nodded. Gibbs had told him the same thing right _before_ he had gone to sleep. He returned to his desk and pulled his Sig Sauer out of his drawer, loaded it, and put it on his belt. As he had guessed she would, Abby had grabbed some of his jeans and his last clean tee shirt, too. "We'll be back soon. Dump some water on DiNozzo's head for me, wake him up."

Abby grinned mischievously. "Oh, I will," she said, her voice full of the same mischief as her smile. "I will indeed." McGee could almost imagine an evil cackle escaping her lips as he led Kelan toward the elevator.

Finding Jennifer Lessels wasn't hard. "Jacqueline Lessels?" McGee asked when she opened the door of the house under her sister's name. Jennifer herself wasn't a Marine, nor was she related to the military in any way other than her sister.

"Yes," she answered. McGee showed her his badge and ID.

"Special Agent Timothy McGee. This is Special Agent Kelan O'Leary. We would like to ask you some questions, and our boss requests that you join him at NCIS."

"Why can't you ask me the questions here, Agent McGee?" she asked flirtatiously. "My couch should be more than sufficient to satisfy your needs." McGee knew he wasn't imagining the double meaning, but he ignored it.

"My boss requests that you answer these questions at NCIS," McGee repeated. The woman seemed unconvinced, so Kelan took over with a quick lie.

"Last night we had a fundraising basketball game, and our boss broke his ankle. He's on crutches, so he can't easily come here." Kelan gestured to the sloping driveway. "He can talk to you in the conference room."

Thankfully, even if she didn't believe Kelan, Jennifer went along with it and got into the back of the sedan. When they returned to NCIS, she was very good and didn't try to escape as each man half-expected she would. After all, she was feigning innocence, so running would be tantamount to a confession and certainly have her put in interrogation, not the conference room.

Kelan led Jennifer Lessels to her meeting with Gibbs, though Gibbs was not yet there. He sat behind his desk in the squad room as McGee reported to him. "Oh, and we told her you broke your ankle and that you're on crutches," he finished. Gibbs smirked and stood up, then limped away.

"This is not a conference room," Jennifer Lessels said, turning on Kelan. "The door says interrogation right on it!"

Gibbs jogged up behind them. "Sorry about that, the Director is using the conference room right now, so the best we can do is interrogation." A lie, of course.

"I suppose you're this young man's boss?" Jennifer asked, leaning against Kelan. He smartly backed away, but Jennifer kept her balance.

"O'Leary, you can go now," Gibbs said, nodding towards the next door down. Observation. Quickly, he led Jennifer into the room before she could notice that Kelan would be watching.


	8. Chapter 8

"Yes," Gibbs answered as he gestured for Jennifer Lessels to sit down. He sat opposite her. "I am O'Leary's boss, and McGee's. They're two good agents."

"I was told you were on crutches, wanted to question me personally, and I must be brought here. I was also informed that I would be talking to you in the conference room, not interrogation. What is going on here? And what the hell is your name, anyway? I've met Timothy McGee, Kelan O'Leary, Abiga-" Jennifer stopped herself, but it was too late.

He had her. Easy. "Ah, so you've met my forensic scientist, have you?" Gibbs asked. "When your sister's son was murdered?"

"That was my son-"

"I happen to remember," Gibbs went on, ignoring Jennifer's protest "her looking slightly different every time I saw her. At the time I didn't think much of it, I was too busy looking for the kids at the time. I meant to look into it later, never got the chance, and eventually forgot about it. So, I'd wager that you pretended to be Jacqueline then as you are now, _Jennifer_, and so found out some information about the case that she didn't know about. You got lucky that she didn't pick up on the fact that she was missing information. We've got you for impersonating a Marine. That's a federal offense, you know. So even if you don't admit that you killed your sister, well, we have the evidence against you on that."

"Circumstantial, I would bet you," Jennifer challenged.

Gibbs shrugged. "You could say that. But even if we don't nab you for the murder I know you committed, well, we've still got several eyewitness reports on the impersonating thing. So, if you've got nothing to say, I'll leave now. See you in court." Gibbs walked towards the door. His hand was on the door handle when she spoke up.

"Wait."

Turning, Gibbs looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

He sat again as Jennifer started talking.

"He's good," Kelan said, watching Gibbs from the other side of the two-way mirror. McGee nodded as the door to their right open, and both agents looked over to see DiNozzo entering the room. "You're late."

"Who _are_ you?" DiNozzo asked. "And why were you at Officer David's desk last night?" The second question was bitter and angry. He couldn't bring himself to say Ziva.

"Special Agent Kelan O'Leary," Kelan said, holding out his hand. DiNozzo looked at it but didn't shake.

"Yes, well I'm Very Special Agent-"

"Anthony DiNozzo," Kelan completed. "I know. Tim told me this morning while you were sleeping in your chair."

DiNozzo looked at McGee, then Kelan, and back again. He wasn't happy about being left out of this. But while Kelan seemed nervous and in awe of McGee and Gibbs- especially the latter- he didn't seem to mind DiNozzo at all. This, too, annoyed DiNozzo, even though he didn't know Kelan's reaction to the other two. Meanwhile, Gibbs was doing an interrogation and DiNozzo had no idea what the hell was happening.

Or not. The door opened again and this time, Gibbs walked in. "We got her," he announced, noticing that no one was paying any attention to the interrogation. "She confessed to the murder of her sister and she left the message in the hockey stick for Abby to find. She confessed to kidnapping Special Agent Hagen, too, told me where to find her. DiNozzo, her house, basement. Go." Gibbs retrieved the keys to the sedan and let them dangle from his hand.

"On it Boss!" DiNozzo said, glad to feel a little less left out, as he took the sedan keys from Gibbs.

"Hagen?" Kelan asked, his head shooting to Gibbs, his face going pale. "Mack Hagen, from the Portsmouth Office?"

"Mackenzie, yeah," McGee said, looking curiously at the younger agent. "You know her?"

"I worked with her on a few cases in New Hampshire, yeah. Did you find her?"

McGee had a feeling that he had more than just worked with her. He'd been there, done that with Abby before he had joined Gibbs' team several years ago, while he still worked at Norfolk. "No, Kelan," McGee said apologetically. "We didn't find her. At the beginning of the investigation we thought she might have been the burned body, but it turned out to be Jacqueline Lessels. Her glasses were found at the crime scene, with one of her finger prints on it. But turns out she isn't related to this case after all, other than being framed as a dead body to hide the real victim's identity."

Kelan nodded. "I'll be in the squad room." He exited the observation room, leaving McGee and Gibbs staring after his back.

"That was odd," McGee said.

"Tell me about it," Gibbs agreed before heading up to Director Vance's office.

Finally, McGee headed for Abby's lab. He heard the music blaring before the elevator doors even opened, and Abby leaped into his arms as he walked through the door. McGee was confused but pleasantly surprised.

"Why did you attack me?" he asked, laughing and setting her on her feet.

"Tony called me already and said that you had found the person who left the note. Now I don't have to have Kelan looking over my shoulder all the time. He's a cool guy and all, I love him, but he kept looking over my shoulder and asking about everything I was doing because he didn't know what it all was."

McGee's face fell slightly when she said 'I love him,' and Abby noticed immediately. "Not like that, McGee. He's cool, but I wouldn't date him. You're better all around, Timmy." Abby hugged him, and McGee smiled, smelling her hair. Abby had a unique smell that he could never place, but he absolutely loved it. It was then that McGee realized he was wearing the dark green MIT shirt that Abby had said smelled like J-Lo Glo. When he told Abby all this, the two laughed. McGee's cell rang, interrupting them.

"McGee. Okay. Yeah, I'll be right there." After he hung up, Tim looked at Abby. "Gibbs thinks that if I'm upstairs, Kelan will stop pacing. Apparently, he isn't a fan of the waiting game."

Abby laughed. "Until next time," she said, waving as McGee left.

"Until next time," he agreed.


End file.
